Terra Nova
by zantetsuren
Summary: When a Heartless is destroyed, followed by its Nobody, the original being is restored. But what if the original being was two in one? The answer, it seems, is that the two are separated. So when the Heartless known as Ansem and the Nobody known as Xemnas were destroyed, and one half of their original self restored, what do you suppose happened to the other...?
1. Rebirth

A dusty wind was blowing, as always, in the valleys of the Keyblade Graveyard. A suit of armor knelt, as it had for over ten years, on the grounds of its last battle. And for the first time in a long time, something broke the silence.

A flash of light, and a gasp of air, and all of a sudden the armor was replaced with a living, breathing young man, who collapsed to all fours on the dusty soil. He breathed deeply and heavily, his mind still struggling to understand what was going on, as if he'd just awoken from a long nightmare- though in a way, he had.

He lifted his head to examine his surroundings, recognition slowly coming to his deep blue eyes, and finally he got to his feet. He held his hands out in front of him, as if making sure they were real. After a moment, he lowered his left hand and turned his right palm outward, focusing on a familiar sensation in his heart- and in a flurry of electric sparks and gears of light, a great blade appeared in his grasp. The young man let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, relieved that the weapon had yet to abandon him.

He dismissed the blade and turned his gaze back to the wastelands around him, trying to decide what to do next- before reaching into his pocket, struck by a sudden memory. He pulled out a charm made of metal and orange glass in the shape of a star, staring down at it as he recalled the ones it linked him to.

The kind and mature young woman with a talent for magic he could only dream of- who dove after him into the darkness.

The energetic and optimistic younger boy who looked up to him like a brother- who he'd last seen in the midst of a pillar of light signaling the creation of a terrible weapon.

He knew then that there was only one thing for him to do. He had to fulfill the promise he'd made all those years ago.

_I have to make things right._

* * *

><p>AN: because i have yet to find any good terra fics that are still active<br>man that's a short first chapter  
>rrreview i guess?<p> 


	2. Exploring

Terra was fairly certain the worlds had shifted since the last time he'd traversed the Lanes Between.

He'd decided to pay a visit to Master Yen Sid for advice on how to find Aqua and Ven, but he was now having trouble finding his way around the worlds at all, let alone finding the tower the old sorceror called home.

_Maybe I should take a break. It's been a long time since I was on my own, so it could be worth it to explore the worlds and see how things have changed,_ he thought, setting his sights on the nearest world- a quiet-looking town bathed in orange twilight.

* * *

><p>True to Terra's assumptions, the town was fairly quiet and peaceful. A few people greeted him cheerfully, though there were others who gave him some odd looks. And then there was a small group who were more... openly hostile.<p>

"Hey! I've never seen you around before. And I know everyone in this town- who are you?" The shouts had come from an angry-looking young man with a thin scar running diagonally across his nose. He was accompanied by two others- a dark-skinned boy with thick musculature, and a petite girl with lavender hair covering one eye.

After giving the trio a cursory examination, Terra simply gave them his name and continued walking. Though he was quickly stopped again.

"HEY! I'm not done with you yet!" yelled the scarred boy, apparently the little gang's leader. Terra sighed and turned back to them. "Sorry, but I don't have time to play with you kids," he said, receiving an immediate and incensed response. "Who're you calling 'kids'?! We're the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee!" The leader was promptly backed up by the other two, starting with the dark-skinned boy. "Yeah! We keep the town safe from outsiders like you, y'know?!"

"Unwelcome," the petite girl added curtly.

Terra raised an eyebrow. "I'm not here to cause trouble. I'm just passing through," he said calmly, doing his best to mask his growing annoyance for these punks.

"Yeah?" the scarred boy scoffed as he approached Terra (in what he probably thought was a menacing fashion, but fell a bit short of the mark due to a clearly visible size difference in Terra's favor) and stopped just a few inches away. "Well, we don't trust outsiders. So we don't trust you," he said, punctuating with a jab of his finger to Terra's chest. "We'll be keeping an eye on you, buddy."

Terra stared down at the boy for a moment, wondering to himself if this kid actually thought he was in any way threatening, before finally responding dryly, "You do that."

He pushed past the tough guy wannabe easily and walked away, ignoring the shouts of indignation behind him.

* * *

><p>After a few more minutes of exploration, Terra came to a train station beneath a high clock tower. Curious about where the trains could possibly lead, he entered- and spotted something intriguing just over the top of the staircase within. He jogged up the stairs to what appeared to be the boarding platform, where there sat a very odd train. While most of the other trains were orange, this one was bright blue and decorated with stars and crescent moons... almost like a certain sorceror's robes. The train even looked like it was wearing the same pointed hat as Yen Sid. And curiously enough, it also appeared to have no driver.<p>

_If that's not a magic train, then I don't know what is,_ Terra thought with a smile. He boarded the eccentric vehicle and, sure enough- as soon as he sat down, it started into motion, still lacking a driver.

He watched the scenery pass by through the window, lit by the setting sun, before it transformed into a familiar colorful sky. The train came to a stop not long after, the doors opening automatically, and Terra stepped out onto the piece of isolated land that Yen Sid called home. The train disappeared behind him once he was off, but he didn't think much of it. He had his glider, and he knew how to find the tower now.

With that, Terra approached and finally entered the Mysterious Tower.

* * *

><p>AN: the joke here is that terra always seems to encounter the villains first whenever he visits a new world (seifer's gang being the closest thing twilight town really has to villains)<p>

this chapter was originally supposed to be longer but i felt since even just this ended up taking so long i should just post what i have

whether or not the next chapter is longer, i feel that as the story goes on the chapters will most likely end up being a pretty consistent and sizeable length

Silverbird22 - i was going to explain this in a pm but you seem to have them turned off so i'll just put it here (it'll be useful for anyone else who's curious anyway)  
>the subject of terra's memories will most likely be covered in a future chapter, but since it's not going to be particularly plot important and i don't trust myself to remember to put it in, i'll just go ahead and explain: terra remembers everything up to when he and xehanort fell into darkness, the last thing he saw being aqua diving after them, and he also has all of his lingering will's memories, which basically amount to 11 years of nothing, sora showing up out of nowhere, another year of nothing, and then finally his revival (so this fic takes place after dream drop distance)<br>he remembers nothing of being ansem's apprentice or his time as a heartless and nobody, so aside from his lingering will's largely less-than-exciting memories he basically has a 12 year blank in his memory

anyway, thanks everyone for the reviews and follows and even favorites~ please keep reviewing your feedback gives me life


End file.
